Clarksville Academy Malcolm Smith and his brother Martin celebrates after wining the Class A State Championship game in double overtime 82-77 over Grace Baptist.

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MURFREESBORO - Any coach who's been through the fire understands that playing with a huge lead could be more of a headache than if his team was playing from behind.

Clarksville Academy wasn't about to complain about the first eight minutes of the school's first basketball state championship game Saturday afternoon at the Murphy Center. The Cougars exploded out to a 17-point advantage against Chattanooga's Grace Baptist.

But the Golden Eagles proved that coaches often know better than to think a game like the one the Academy was playing would be easy. The Golden Eagles fought back and looked ...